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U.S. seizes $2.3 mln in Bitcoin paid to Colonial Pipeline hackers
Reuters ^ | June 7, 2021 | Christopher BingJoseph MennSarah N. Lynch

Posted on 06/07/2021 3:08:51 PM PDT by Navy Patriot

...

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said investigators had seized 63.7 Bitcoins, now valued at about $2.3 million, paid by Colonial (COLPI.UL) after last month's hack of its systems that led to massive shortages at U.S. East Coast gas stations.

...

An affidavit filed on Monday said the FBI was in possession of a private key to unlock the hackers' Bitcoin wallet. It was unclear how the FBI gained access to this key.

...

"Today, we've turned the tables on DarkSide," said Monaco, referring to a ransomware group widely believed to have been behind the crippling fuel pipeline attack.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 202105; anon; bitcoin; bitcoinwallet; colonial; colonialpipeline; crimedoesntpay; cryptocurrency; cybersecurity; darkside; fbi; lisamonaco; monaco; privatekey; ransomware; russia; russianhackers; wallet
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Investigators say DarkSide often used a partnership model with other hacking groups to compromise numerous victims.

It sure would be easy to "turn the tables" on Darkside if the "partnership" was actually with NSA Spooks masquerading as "Russian Hackers" Orchestrating the entire operation.

It would also explain the FBI "possession" of the Private Key to the Hackers Bitcoin Wallet

1 posted on 06/07/2021 3:08:51 PM PDT by Navy Patriot
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To: Navy Patriot

Either that, or somebody really messed up on the hacker team.


2 posted on 06/07/2021 3:10:53 PM PDT by Bones75
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To: Navy Patriot

Knew the Feds were onto them. Would not be surprised if they are tracked and the rest of the Bitcoin recovered.

Then all the hackers are disappeared.

ChiCom Joe is a nasty old pedo and now he’s demented so he’ll sign anything they put in front of him.


3 posted on 06/07/2021 3:12:15 PM PDT by romanesq (TRUSTY THE PLAN! ChiCom Joe is the Plan? Que magnificent! đź‘ą)
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To: Navy Patriot

So I take the private key wasn’t brute-forced hacked. If it was, that doesn’t speak highly of Bitcoin’s encryption.


4 posted on 06/07/2021 3:12:37 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” ― Thomas Jefferson)
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To: ConservativeInPA

BTC private key info.:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key

https://coinsutra.com/bitcoin-private-key/


5 posted on 06/07/2021 3:17:09 PM PDT by Drago
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To: ConservativeInPA
So I take the private key wasn’t brute-forced hacked. If it was, that doesn’t speak highly of Bitcoin’s encryption.

All coins were surging this morning until this news emerged. Collapsed after that.

6 posted on 06/07/2021 3:17:35 PM PDT by montag813 ("Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the Great")
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To: Navy Patriot

i think the FIB actually made the transaction and followed it from there


7 posted on 06/07/2021 3:18:10 PM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. P144:1)
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To: Navy Patriot

So they didn’t get it all back. I wonder how bitcoins the fib kept.


8 posted on 06/07/2021 3:19:51 PM PDT by CJ Wolf ( what is scarier than offensive words? Not being able to say them...God wins. )
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To: romanesq

Maybe the fib actually just looked at hunters laptop and found the keys there.


9 posted on 06/07/2021 3:20:59 PM PDT by CJ Wolf ( what is scarier than offensive words? Not being able to say them...God wins. )
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To: Navy Patriot
And the reaction

$35.5k down to $31k and then the slow recovery. Until more people see the news tonight or tomorrow.

10 posted on 06/07/2021 3:21:44 PM PDT by Pollard
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To: montag813

Due to a loss in confidence by the investors in bitcoin no doubt. Worried their investments will become vaporware if the encryption fails.

CC


11 posted on 06/07/2021 3:28:48 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: Navy Patriot
"FBI was in possession of a private key to unlock the hackers' Bitcoin wallet."

If the FBI can do it, so can most anyone else. How save is Bitcon?

12 posted on 06/07/2021 3:28:49 PM PDT by norwaypinesavage (The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones.)
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To: Navy Patriot

What concerns me is the connection to the government which has devalued our own currency by more than 95% over my lifetime. If they can get their hands on crypto that defeats the reason I found it attractive.


13 posted on 06/07/2021 3:30:26 PM PDT by immadashell (New Planned Parenthood slogan: Black Babies’ Lives Don't Matter!)
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To: Navy Patriot

Sure ……. And the sheep will line up to believe this nonsense.

Hey everybody I have 4 beanstalk beans, valued at 4 gagillion bazillion dollars.

WTF-Ever

On a side note, I’m thinking that if they actually did this, they could actually ID then. Nope


14 posted on 06/07/2021 3:34:06 PM PDT by qaz123
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To: Navy Patriot

An inside job, inside the IC that is.

I’ll bet they’re going to frame someone.

I wonder who that’s going to be.


15 posted on 06/07/2021 3:35:04 PM PDT by jacknhoo ( Luke 12:51; Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation. )
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To: Navy Patriot

I have never seriously considered getting into cryptocurrency, but if I did, this one story would scotch it completely. If the FBI can hack and steal your wallet contents, nobody’s bitcoins are safe. Let’s face it. The FBI is not the sharpest tool in the shed. If they can do it, I’m sure other hackers can as well.


16 posted on 06/07/2021 3:35:44 PM PDT by Ronin (White privilege is not having to fake your own hate crimes. (HT: CrappieLuck))
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To: Pollard

Did the FIB cash out their bitcoin before or after making this announcement?


17 posted on 06/07/2021 3:43:01 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity.)
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To: Navy Patriot

I remember watching US Customs shows and they always had the dog find the drugs, even when the drugs were vacuum-sealed. It then occurred to me that perhaps the dogs were getting a little help from Customs to make their dogs appear to be able to sniff through vacuum-sealing (even though air can’t get through) - such as some a bit of scent on the outside of the packaging.

So one has to wonder if it was all a set-up by Uncle Sam. They may be the ones blackmailing the pipeline, and then the intercepting the ransom. That way real players around the world realize that Bitcoin may not be quite as secure as they claim.

...we’ll probably never know, but I certainly wouldn’t put this past our masters.


18 posted on 06/07/2021 3:43:06 PM PDT by BobL (I shop at Walmart and eat at McDonald's, I just don't tell anyone, like most here.)
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To: Navy Patriot
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday the Biden administration was looking at all options to defend against ransomware attacks and that the topic would be on the agenda when Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin this month.

LMAO, imagine Biden even talking to a 10 year old child, about Bitcoin and Ransomware, let alone to Vald Putin? Totally Insane!

19 posted on 06/07/2021 3:44:01 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Navy Patriot

They should go after the Biden crime family with as much zeal.


20 posted on 06/07/2021 3:44:59 PM PDT by Amish with an attitude
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